Schulz elected European Parliament president

Martin Schulz, the leader of the Socialists and Democrats group of MEPs, has been elected European Parliament president.

Schulz received 387 votes. Nirj Deva, a UK MEP from the European Conservatives and Reformists group, came second with 142 votes, while Diana Wallis, a UK Liberal standing as an independent, was in third place with 141 votes.

The total number of valid votes cast was 670. Schulz had an absolute majority, avoiding the need for a second round of voting.

The German MEP, who has led the S&D group since 2004, was expected to win the election because of a deal between the Parliament’s two largest groups.The centre-right European People's Party (EPP) and the S&D agreed to share the presidency over the Parliament's 2009-14 term.

Under the deal, the two groups agreed to give the posts to Jerzy Buzek, a Polish MEP, who held the presidency for the first half of the term, and to Schulz for the second half.

Schulz's term runs from today until June 2014 when fresh elections for the Parliament take place.

Both Wallis and Deva said the deal between the two groups was undemocratic. Both campaigned on promises to reform the Parliament and make its work more transparent.

Schulz, in his first address as president, thanked MEPs for their “overwhelming show of confidence” in his candidacy. He said he would fight for “more Europe” as well as for a greater say by the Parliament in EU decision-making. “I will be the president of all members of the European Parliament and defend your rights,” he said.

The results are similar to those of the 2004 contest when Josep Borrell, a Spanish Socialist, was elected president. Borrell received 388 votes out of a total of 647 votes cast. There were 259 votes for other candidates, with Bronislaw Geremek, a Polish Liberal MEP and former foreign minister, receiving 208 votes. Francis Wurtz, a French far-left MEP, received 51 votes.

In July 2009, Buzek, a former prime minister of Poland, was elected president with 555 of 644 votes cast. His only rival, Swedish far-left MEP Eva-Britt Svensson, received 89 votes.